I am a Tax Partner in WithumSmith+Brown’s National Tax Service Group and the founding father of the firm's Aspen, Colorado office. I am a CPA licensed in Colorado and New Jersey, and hold a Masters in Taxation from the University of Denver. My specialty is corporate and partnership taxation, with an emphasis on complex mergers and acquisitions structuring. In the past year, I co-authored CCH's "CCH Expert Treatise Library: Corporations Filing Consolidated Returns," was awarded the Tax Adviser's "Best Article Award" for a piece titled "S Corporation Shareholder Compensation: How Much is Enough?" and was named to the CPA Practice Advisor's "40 Under 40."

In my free time, I enjoy driving around in a van with my dog Maci, solving mysteries. I have been known to finish the New York Times Sunday crossword puzzle in less than 7 minutes, only to go back and do it again using only synonyms. I invented wool, but am so modest I allow sheep to take the credit. Dabbling in the culinary arts, I have won every Chili Cook-Off I ever entered, and several I haven’t. Lastly, and perhaps most notably, I once sang the national anthem at a World Series baseball game, though I was not in the vicinity of the microphone at the time.

Golfer Phil Mickelson May Call It Quits Due To Climbing Tax Rates

JANUARY 20: Phil Mickelson hits his second shot on the tenth hole at the Nicklaus Private Course at the PGA West during the second round of the Humana Challenge. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

Word is, Phil Mickelson is mad as hell about rising tax rates, and he’s not going to take it anymore. What follows is a brief portion of an interview Mickelson gave earlier today after carding a final-round 66 at the Palmer Course at PGA West in La Quinta – which I assure you, is not associated with the La Quinta next door to your local Denny’s – in which the golfer hinted that he is considering drastic career changes because of a combined tax rate nearing “62, 63 percent:”

Q. When you’re asked about Stricker’s semi-retirement, with the political situation the last couple months, blah, blah, blah, what did you mean by that? Do you find it an unsettling time in a way?

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, it’s been an interesting offseason. And I’m going to have to make some drastic changes. I’m not going to jump the gun and do it right away, but I will be making some drastic changes.

PHIL MICKELSON: I’m not sure what exactly, you know, I’m going to do yet. I’ll probably talk about it more in depth next week. I’m not going to jump the gun, but there are going to be some. There are going to be some drastic changes for me because I happen to be in that zone that has been targeted both federally and by the state and, you know, it doesn’t work for me right now. So I’m going to have to make some changes.

To be honest, it’s hard to blame Mickelson – who has compiled a net worth approaching $180 million by repeatedly striking a tiny white ball until it falls into a hole — for putting all options on the table, which according to some, include the possibility of prematurely shutting down his career to avoid his rising tax burden. Let’s take a look at what Mickelson is up against in 2013:

For starters, courtesy of President Obama’s re-election and the subsequent fiscal cliff negotiations, Mickelson will experience an increase in his top tax rate on ordinary income from 35% to 39.6%, and an increase in his top rate on long-term capital gains and qualified dividends from 15% to 20%. Clearly, when faced with tax hikes of that magnitude, it stops making economic sense for Mickelson to continue to swing a metal stick up to 70 times a day in exchange for the $48 million he earns on an annual basis.

But it gets worse. Thanks to the expiration of the temporary 2% reduction in the payroll tax rate on the first $113,700 of self-employment income, Mickelson will have to fork over an extra $2,274 in tax during 2013, an additional burden that makes it hard to justify briskly walking as many as five miles per day, four days a week. In long pants, nonetheless.

And then there’s the impact of Obamacare. When you consider that from now on, Mickelson will be liable for an additional 0.9% tax on his self-employment income and 3.8% tax on his net investment income after each exceeds $250,000, what’s left over from the multi-million dollar endorsement deal requiring him to sport a Rolex watch while playing private courses in exotic locales hardly seems worth it.

If you think perhaps Mickelson is being a bit of a baby for threating to end a career that’s earned him a spot on this list of 10 wealthiest athletes on the planet because of some tax increases, understand that he’s getting hit on the state level, too. In November, California passed Proposition 30, which increases the top income tax rate on resident millionaires to 13.3%, a drain on Mickelson’s take-home pay that may force him to sell his 9,500 square foot mansion and flee his home state in search of more friendly pastures.

Should Mickelson follow through on his promises, he is fortunate that there is no shortage of countries across the globe that offers an opportunity for a man to earn exorbitant riches by playing a game. But I, for one, would encourage Mickelson to stay the course, continue to fight the good fight, and hire a savvy tax advisor. He shouldn’t have to look too far; after all, one of the sponsors that paid Phil an estimated $44 million in 2012 was KPMG.

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Phil just gained a fan here. I have no problem with anyone making an honest living and being handsomely rewarded. People say the Phil’s, et al, are greedy for wanting to keep most of their earnings. I say that covetousness, envy and spite are character flaws too.

as a fellow american, i understand your disdain for taxes. unfortunately it is a necessary evil. your reaction to whats happening in “Our” country surprised me. i always thought of you as a person of great charachter. your reaction to having to pay more taxes is a childish one. i raised 3 kids and am proud to say they all graduated from college, and Mom and Dad paid the entire bill minus some student aid. You make sacrifices in life , but the rewards are many in the long run. Iam willing to part with a little of my paycheck if we can get this country back to where it should be. Our country changed a lot after 9/11. George Bush wrote a lot of checks to protect us , President Obama is trying to get some money in the account to cover these checks. You have enjoyed a good life in these United States Phil, if you have to pitch in to help the country get back to its greatness, take some pride in the fact you did it. we all can still complain about taxes but understand we have that right in a free country.wealth isn’t judged by your wallets contents, it’s judged by the love of others you nurture.

Couldn’t imagine a dumber article. It may have been useful if you would have presented how much disposable income Phil has after taxes. I am sure if you would have presented the that information you would have gotten some support that he might be a bit of a complainer. However, your pretense that if people make a lot of money they shouldn’t complain about paying 1% of their money to 100 different tax entities is moronic. Yea I know you weren’t about to put the effort into finding out how much disposible income Phil has but keep in mind being lazy is no excuse for writing dumb.

I think that you should call it a day Phil…your golf game is up and down and your complaining about taxes is going to fall on deaf ears except for the country club fans who have issed your butt or pinstripped tassle shoed investment types of have lined your pockets to wear their shirts/hats on tour…yawn….

I couldn’t imagine having that much taken from my paycheck, let alone that much more of an increase from one year to the next. By all means, he needs to move out of California like many have or will be, but I hope he stays on the PGA tour. I can see a drastic decrease in donations to worthy charities for the sake of governement wasteful spending. However, I’m hoping for much higher charitable donations to have higher tax write offs.

Common sense would dictate that many residents should consider changing States. At Mickelson’s income level, think about the charities that could benefit from him eleminating the State of California income tax. You do not have to make over a $1,000,000 a year to benefit by moving to a different state. In fact people in the $250,000 to $2,000,000 range tend to be hurt the most from these higher taxes. Meaning if you take away 55% of the income from someone making $10,000,000 per movie they are still left with $4,500,000. Take away the same percentage from someone making $750,000 a year and they are left with $337,500. More difficult to save enough to make it possible to take significant business risks to run a small business with the amount remaining after taking out living expenses, etc.

This is n ot about sympathy nor gluttony, It’s about State & Federal Government out of control Spending top the point That it is becoming a crime to be successful in this Country. How much money Phil makes, and how he makes it shouldn’t be mocked such as this artic le does as long as how he makes his money is done in a hopnest way. My income is below the proverty line, and I am 78 years old . However I am solvent, and I begrudge Phil nor any other honest successful Person nothing . They owe me nothing. Neither does this country. When did we allow the P.progressives to convince so many that we must have income equlity by taking from people according to their ability and spreading it to everyone according to their need (now even worse according to their wants).

Every Country that has tried it has gone broke! We too can be like Greece We can all be equally Broke, Both Financially and Morally. What the Hell has happened to the once Great America where I was born, grew up in and defended ion war as have every Generation of my Family? God only knows!